The Avengers, Teenage Edition
by Dark Princess Of Daydreaming
Summary: What would've happened if the Avengers were teenagers in a normal high school, rather the adults? They would've had normal classes, played on sports teams, gone to Homecoming dances, gotten detention…all while trying to save the world. This is the result. AU
1. Prologue

Prologue (The First Day):

Tony Stark strode through the main door of East Lake Secondary School as though he owned the place –and he probably could've, if he'd wanted to. A couple of girls, whose names (Was it Elena…Caroline…Marissa…) he couldn't remember, surrounded him, chattering away and shooting him flirty looks on occasion. His best friend, Rhodes, also walked next to him, although the guy as rather quiet and had much less ego than Tony did, not that that was saying much.

Tony happened to glance off down the hall, and when he did, he caught sight of one of the prettiest girls he'd seen in awhile. She had smooth, slightly wavy red hair and walked with purpose and grace, her snug dark jeans and fitted black jacket showing off her slender, athletic body.

"Who's that?" he demanded.

The responses were not very enthusiastic. One girl scowled, while another shrugged, and Rhodes rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. Only Pepper, the girl who was like an assistant, almost like a friend, and not really a possible romantic interest, spoke up.

"That would be Natasha, who was in my French class last year."

"Natasha…"

"Natasha Romanoff," Pepper sighed, exasperated. "She wouldn't like you."

"What?" Tony demanded in protest. "How could she not?"

"Because she's much too smart to be taken in by you," Pepper replied smoothly, and Rhodes stifled a laugh.

"Well then," Tony muttered. "Natasha!" he called out suddenly, making the whole group around him wince and stare off in various directions. The red-haired girl looked over wearily, as did the boy next to her.

"What is it?" she asked coolly, stopping when she reached them. The boy who walked next to her – some underclassman, Tony thought dismissively – stopped as well.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're Anthony Stark," she said flatly, meeting his gaze with cold green eyes. The boy next to her shifted slightly. Tony ignored him.

"Call me Tony," he said smoothly. She raised an eyebrow. "Natasha Romanoff. You should really join our table today at lunch," he invited.

"I'm afraid I'm not interested," she said dispassionately. "I have better things to do during my lunch." _Now_ Tony's eyes did flick over towards the boy.

"Who's he? Your boyfriend?"

Natasha gave him a disdainful look. "This is Clint Barton, my _friend_. I don't date."

"I'm not sure I believe that. Pretty girl like you –"

"I'm a freshman," she interrupted. "And 14. I don't date creepy older guys." With that she turned and walked away, Clint staying at her side the entire time.

"She's lying," Tony said, watching her.

"She's not," Pepper said, but quiet enough that Tony didn't really hear her.

"Give it up, Tony," Rhodes advised. "Shouldn't we get to class? Don't you have AP Physics, or something like that?"

"Yep, should be a breeze," Tony said as they started off, him still thinking about Natasha. She was driven from his mind a moment later, however, at the sight of one of the new students.

Or rather, the sound.

"THIS PLACE IS SO ODD. AND YOU PEOPLE ARE SO TINY!" a voice boomed, as they turned a corner. The source of the voice seemed to be the tall, muscular kid with shoulder-length blond hair. The one wearing a red cape over his jeans and t-shirt.

"Oh my," Rhodes said, staring, just like everyone else within a half mile radius.

"Who is _that_?" Tony demanded. Again, Pepper was the one who responded.

"That's Thor Odinson."

"Thor, like the god of thunder? Odinson, like the son of Odin? Now that's weird," Tony commented as they walked past.

"Don't make fun of him."

Tony turned. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't make fun of his name. He can't do anything about it." It was some athletic-looking blond kid that Tony didn't recognize, not that the latter part meant anything, since Tony never seemed to remember anyone.

After the guy had left, Tony turned to Pepper. "Who was –"

"Steven Rogers."

They parted ways at Tony's classroom, and he went in and took his assigned seat next to some guy with glasses. Tony took a glance at the guy and thought that it was going to be a long year.

"Hello, my name is Bruce Banner. I have some anger management issues, so since we're going to be sitting together, I would appreciate that you don't bother me and if we have any partner projects, you keep up with your half of the work."

Well then.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 (Natasha):

"Really, Clint, the Homecoming Dance? What girl are you taking, exactly?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have to go at least once. Right, Steve?" Clint asked, not quite meeting her eyes.

Steve, who was sitting at their table for some unknown reason and reading a book, looked up in surprise. "Probably wouldn't be a bad idea." And Natasha really didn't know why he was sitting at their table, because his friends at another table usually surrounded him. Theirs was usually fairly empty.

"Exactly," Clint said, nodding.

"So what girl are you taking? Some brainless sophomore?"

"Yeah, and you can go with Tony Stark," Clint suggested. "I'm sure he would love to take you. Or, obviously, I should just bring my best friend," he said, quickly, perhaps at the dangerous look in her eyes.

"And who would that be?"

"You, of course."

Natasha actually smiled then. "I won't kill you if you decide to bring some girl, Clint. I'm not going anyway, and maybe you've decided to start dating…"

"You're coming," Clint interrupted her. "And no, there's no way you're getting out of it, Nat." He cheerfully slung his arm over her shoulder, and she sighed, but truthfully wasn't that annoyed.

"Do you guys like each other or something?" Steve asked suddenly. They both looked up in surprise. He looked suddenly awkward. "I mean…do you…like…_like_…each other?"

"Rogers, you seem to be losing your vocabulary," Natasha said mildly, "but no." Well, actually…but, no, that didn't need to be brought up.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"GREETINGS!" exclaimed someone suddenly. Thor, of course, who else? He dropped down between Steve and Natasha.

"Hello, Thor. What is it?" she asked politely.

"YOU ARE NATASHA, IS THIS CORRECT?"

"Yes, but Thor, please try to be a little bit quieter. Everyone's staring," Natasha said awkwardly.

"Sorry. But I wished you to meet my brother. LOKI!" he called, and they all jumped. A boy walked over. He was smaller than Thor, with straight, dark hair and ice blue eyes that sparkled with humor.

"Calm, brother, you're scaring the students," Loki said. "Why is it that you wished me to come here?"

"This is Natasha and Clint. You said you wished to meet people. They are good people."

"Yes, well," Loki nodded, "greetings, Natasha and Clint. Perhaps I will see you around." He left and Thor followed, calling out a loud farewell.

"How do you know him?" Steve asked curiously.

"Algebra 2 class," Clint said. "And cross country practice, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Steve remembered. He went back to his book.

"Come on, Nat," we've got Homecoming tickets to buy," Clint said suddenly, rising and inclining his head towards the table at the front of the cafeteria. Natasha sighed and reluctantly followed him.

…

Because neither of them had a driver's license (Natasha being a freshman and Clint's birthday not being until January), they walked home after cross country practice ended. They didn't talk much, but that was fine, because it was an easy, comfortable silence between two people who saw no need to talk when there was nothing to say.

They ended up both going to Natasha's house though, since neither one of them wanted to come home to an empty house (Natasha's stepfather was still at work, Clint's foster parents were both at work, and his older brother was in college).

"Homework?" Clint asked, already taking food from the fridge like any normal teenage boy would, though he wasn't quite a normal teenage boy for several reasons…

"I have to check my email first," Natasha replied, opening her laptop on the kitchen table. Clint looked over her shoulder, holding a bag of chips, and she did her best to ignore him.

"You got an email from Mr. Fury," he commented. "He must have another assignment."

"Look, he included your assignment too," Natasha pointed out, smirking slightly. "Did you forget to check your email again?"

"Oh yeah," he said, and Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Do you know Erik Selvig?" she asked, scanning the email.

"Yeah, he's my chemistry teacher, why?"

"You're supposed to watch over him – protect him, keep an eye on him – the usual," she replied. He nodded and bent to pick up a chip he'd dropped.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm supposed to get some information out of Georgi Luchkov," she sighed. That would mean sitting at his table, probably flirting with him, and general misery. She would do it, of course, and do it well, but that didn't mean she liked it. Plus she would have to avoid Clint for a few days, which was always annoying. Clint squeezed her shoulder briefly. She typed off a quick reply to the email.

Mr. Fury – a.k.a. Nick Fury – was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), an international military organization, which both Natasha and Clint worked undercover for. She was a spy, hacker, and acrobat, among other things; he was an archer, acrobat, and strategist. They might've been only 14 and 15, but they were already excellent agents.

She closed her laptop. "I going to go train," she decided, thinking that if she was going to be hanging around Georgi Luchkov, she wanted to be sure she could beat him up if necessary.

So she threw around some weights and flipped and twisted all over a bunch of gymnastics equipment while Clint made a bunch of impossible shots with his bow. The best part was sparring though, because she still beat Clint every time.

"Alright, Nat, you win. Your dad's home now, so I'm going to head out." He gave her a faint smile.

As soon as he left, Natasha sat down hard on the floor. Outwardly she nearly always looked in control – spy training had taught her that much – but that didn't mean she wasn't confused inside.

For example: Clint Barton. He was her best friend, her partner, and the person she trusted more than anyone else she knew. Everyone always asked if they were dating and always wondered if they liked each other, to which they always replied "no," but sometimes, in little moments, she wondered. And then there was that time last year when they'd been sent to Budapest on an assignment… But no, she couldn't go there right now.

**Author's Note: So, what do you think so far? Please review and let me know. Oh, and if you have any suggestions about high school activities that you think would be interesting to see the Avengers do, I'd be happy to hear them.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 (Clint):

Natasha looked hot. That was his first intelligent thought (his first one was something like _um uh…_). She always looked beautiful, but today she was going for eye-catching, because of her assignment to interrogate Georgi Luchkov.

"Hey Nat," he managed. She raised one eyebrow at him, her eyes laughing at his inability to form words. "You look good," he said finally.

"But not like me," she replied. Her red hair curled, makeup on her face, wearing boots with heels, and a shirt with a lower neck. But at the same time, she wore basically the same thing she wore most days: dark skinny jeans and a fitted black top. It was then that he realized he was staring.

"I still see you," he said, which sounded incredibly stupid to his ears. Natasha was silent. He supposed it was true, since even though she looked about 17 and he knew that she was already able to get men to do what she wanted, he thought he could still see the 14-year-old girl if he looked. Or maybe he just knew her too well.

"Clint, stop staring."

"Sorry."

"We need to split up now," Natasha said reluctantly. "I can see the school."

For a moment, Clint had the ridiculous urge to say something sentimental or kiss her cheek, or something along those lines. But he didn't. Which they would all regret later…

"Good luck then."

"You too."

…

Clint sat silently in the back of the Chemistry Honors classroom. He was silent a lot at school, only talking a lot when he was around Natasha. He'd joked once that she drew the words out of him and he drew the emotions out of her, but it was true. Maybe that was just what best friends did, but it was stuff like that that sent Clint's thoughts down unnecessary paths. After all, people already thought they were dating.

"Clint, could you remind us what the chemical formula for glucose is?"

"C6H12O6."

"Exactly. Now…" Clint went back to his thoughts, careful to still keep an eye on Dr. Selvig. He doubted anything would happen in class, but you never knew.

Dr. Selvig was working with S.H.I.E.L.D. on a project involving something called the Tesseract, which was an energy source of almost unlimited power, and had been recovered from the ocean after World War 2 by a man named Howard Stark. Apparently, the Tesseract was once owned by the Norse god, Odin, and could be used as a portal to outer space.

Clint would've just settled for "it's powerful. Protect it."

But he took his job seriously, and went back to the classroom after the school day finished, taking his seat in the back corner while Selvig covered the windows and prepared his work area up front. Clint wasn't quite sure why he didn't just go to a lab outside of the school. But the teenage boy sat there for hours, doing his homework, yes, but also keeping a close eye on both the doctor and all possible entrances and exits. Occasionally, another teacher who had with ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. and was helping with the project would come in.

…

"The Tesseract is misbehaving."

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is…behaving."

Clint watched silently as Nick Fury questioned Dr. Selvig, alternating glances between the two of them and the Tesseract (the most eye-catching thing in the room, since it was a glowing blue cube). This was getting worrying, especially considering the conclusion he'd come up with.

"Where's Agent Barton?" Nick Fury asked. _Agent._

"The Hawk? Back at his desk." Clint smiled very faintly. Weird how a codename could make you feel accomplished. His was, of course, Hawkeye.

"I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things," Fury told Clint, frowning.

"Well, I see better from a distance." Clint wasn't sure if the look Fury gave him was "_whatever_" look or the difficult teen look, like "_boy,_ _what is wrong with you?_"

Fury sighed, as though he had better things to do than deal with teenage archers. "Have you seen anything that could set this thing off?"

"Dr. Selvig's clean –no IMs, no emails, no contact with anyone suspicious. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't on this end."

"On this end?"

"It's a doorway to the other side of space, right? Don't doors open from both sides?" Clint felt rather proud of this observation, not that he showed it. There was a burst of blue energy, and Clint pulled Fury out of the way as it streaked across the room. Blue light flared, then stopped, and in its place knelt a teenage boy with long black hair holding a spear.

_Loki…I'm an idiot_, Clint thought. Maybe the brothers Thor and Loki are _the _brothers Thor and Loki? Hmm.

"Sir, put down the spear," Nick Fury called. A slow smile crossed Loki's face.

Then everything went to hell. Because chaos happens when the god of chaos shows up.

Several guards and other members of S.H.I.E.L.D. armed with weapons (completely against the school rules, but then…his were too) had entered with Nick Fury, but they didn't survive Loki's assault. Suddenly it was just Clint, Nick Fury, and Loki, with a bunch of dead bodies. Clint swallowed nervously. Loki turned to him.

"You have heart," he said softly. The tip of the spear touched Clint's chest.

Suddenly a whole wealth of knowledge lay in vast plains spread before his eyes. The universe itself was open to him. He looked up into Loki's eyes and put away the gun he'd drawn. Everything had changed.


	4. Chapter 2 and a half

Chapter 2 and a half (Thor and Loki):

Thor:

Thor sat in his bedroom gazing out at the stars and not liking what he saw.

For one, the stars near the mortal planet Earth were in strange positions, so he truly felt his distance from home. But Thor had also noticed what the mortals seemed not to – that the stars shone with danger signs and warnings that something bad was happening. To add to matters, he wasn't sure where Loki had gone.

As he often did when he was worried, Thor glanced at his desk, where a single photograph of Jane Foster, the girl he'd fallen for on his first visit to Earth. Beside the picture were other treasures of slightly less value: a Norse mythology book that actually got a few things right, and a bag of black powder that claimed to be coffee, but didn't taste like the hot drink he remembered.

He bedroom itself looked close of enough to a mortal human teenage boy's room – so Jane had told him – but Thor Odinson was not actually a mortal human teenage boy. He was, in fact, the Norse god of thunder. And he had a big hammer.

His father, Odin, had sent him back to Earth with Loki in order to keep an eye on things and make sure all was well on Earth. All seemed well, but Thor couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go very wrong.

Where was Loki?

_"Loki! I've got you!" Young Thor ran forward towards his brother. Loki's image vanished and the real Loki stepped out of a darkened alcove._

_ "Must you always fall for that, brother?" he asked in amusement. He smiled up at his big brother, an adorably pleased look on his face._

_ "Loki, you will be the death of me. And we'll both be sad."_

_ "I could never be," Loki promised. "Forgive me, brother?" he asked, staring up at Thor, who, despite the fairly small age difference, was already much taller. Young Loki was sometimes annoying, but was still amazingly charming and sweet, at least to Thor._

_ "Always. You are my brother."_

Thor frowned at the memory. He loved his brother – well, actually half-brother – but sometimes he got worried, especially after recent events. Loki had sent The Destroyer to Earth to kill Thor, had invited Laufey and the Frost Giants to kill Odin, and had abused the throne of Asgard. Then he had supposedly fallen to his death from the destroyed Bifrost Bridge.

A cold feeling spread through Thor, and he suddenly wondered how he could've been so stupid. If Loki was supposed to be on Earth, wouldn't Odin have mentioned it? He'd been to relieved to see his brother to really think about why Loki was on Earth, but now…

Thor leapt to his feet and hurried towards the door…a little too fast. He smashed right through the door, but decided to deal with it later. On his way out, he called his hammer to his hand.

…

Loki:

_"Why will you one day be king, but not me?" Loki gazed at Thor, jealousy stirring him. Jealousy of how Thor actually looked like an Asgardian, rather than dark-haired and pale. Jealousy of how everyone fawned over Thor, while he was always in the shadow of his '_great and powerful'_ brother. _

_ "I'm older. It's just how it works, I am sorry." Thor put a hand on his shoulder._

_ Loki clenched his teeth, careful not to let Thor see how bothered he was. Because, most of all, he was jealous of how Thor would get to rule. Loki would be a much better ruler, he felt, because he'd known more than greatness all of his life and knew how to work for that greatness._

_ "Of course. Forgive me," Loki muttered._

_ "Cheer up, brother. The festivities will start soon and you would not want to miss out."_

_The festivities will be starting, all right,_ Loki thought. And then, finally, he would be king, as he deserved. The humans could do naught but burn, and Thor would finally feel powerless as he watched. Feel powerless, as he deserved.

Perhaps that was harsh, but Loki was not in a forgiving mood. He lifted the spear.

**Author's Note: What did you think? I thought I would try and add a little bit of background before going back to the story. It'll be back to Natasha next chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 (Natasha):

"This is not how I wanted this evening to go."

Natasha, her hands bound to her chair, tried and failed to hide her disgust. She replied coolly in Russian, "I know how you wanted this evening to go. Trust me, this is better."

"Who do you work for? Lermentov, yes? Does he think that we have to go through him to move our cargo?" Luchkov was going to be easy to manipulate, considering how obvious it was that he thought her just a helpless little girl. He would soon see. She'd always known teenage boys weren't that bright, even seniors… Although how he'd ended up working for an illegal international business, she wasn't quite sure.

"I thought Solohob is in charge of the export business."

"Solohob. A bagman, a front. Your outdated information betrays you. The famous Black Widow and she turns out to be just another pretty face."

Well, she had to give him some credit. After all, she wasn't that famous. She was 14. "You really think I'm pretty?" Who cared what he thought?

Luchkov smiled faintly. "Tell Lermentov we don't need him to move the tanks. Tell him he is out. You might need to write it down," he added, switching back to English and picking up a wrench. Idiot.

Her cellphone rang and one of Luchkov's thugs answered it. "It's for her." Duh.

"You listen up," Luchkov began, and then stopped as whomever it was spoke. A moment later he walked over and she held the phone up to her ear with her shoulder.

"We need you to come in." It was Agent Phil Coulson, one of her superiors at S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Are you kidding? I'm working," Natasha complained.

"This takes precedence."

"I'm in the middle of an interrogation. This moron is giving me everything," Natasha protested.

"I don't give everything." Luchkov frowned. Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.

"Look, you can't pull me out of this right now."

"Natasha…Barton's been compromised." Clint. _Clint. _

"I'm gonna have to put you on hold." These boys would serve as a great target for her fury.

…

"Where's Barton now?" _Clint, what happened? _

"We don't know."

"But he's alive?" _Please, please, please… Clint, I don't know what I would do without you._

"We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy."

"Coulson, you know that Starks trusts me about as far as he can throw me," she said, smiling slightly and remembering the events of last month…

"Oh, I've got Stark. You get the big guy."

He meant Banner. Natasha muttered a bad word in Russian.

…

"You should've got paid up front, Banner," the guy muttered, staring out the window of the deserted house as the young girl Natasha had hired scampered off.

Natasha stepped out of the shadows. Clint was under Loki's spell, destruction and death had occurred at the school, and Nick Fury was assembling a team of 'Avengers,' and Loki had the Tesseract. So now it was her turn to do something.

"You know, for a guy who's supposed to be avoiding stress…" Natasha trailed off. All advanced classes as a senior in high school, lots of duties as a medical assistant, research on his own…

Banner turned around, and Natasha was careful to keep a pleasant face. At least she'd gotten to change out of the ripped up clothes she'd been wearing before, even if she was facing two of the things that truly scared her: Banner and possibly losing Clint.

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret."

"Then what is it? Yoga?" she teased, pushing away her emotions, as per her training.

"You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart. I assume the whole place is surrounded," he said, glancing out the window.

"Just you and me." Of course the place is surrounded. Do I look like I have a death wish?

"And your actress buddy? Is she a spy too? They start that young?"

"I did." The Red Room Academy… Child assassin…

"Who are you?"

"Natasha Romanoff." I go to your school, smart guy.

"Are you here to kill me, Natasha? Because that's not going to work out for everyone."

"No, of course not. I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. How did they find me?"

"We never lost you. We've kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested…parties…off your scent," Natasha replied calmly.

"Why?"

"Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in."

"And what if I say no?"

A chill ran down her spine, but she ignored it. "I'll persuade you." _With all the S.H.I.E.L.D. military personnel outside,_ she added silently.

"And what if the other guy says no?"

"You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you want to break that streak."

"Well, I don't every time get what I want."

"Banner, we're facing a potential global catastrophe," she interrupted a tad impatiently, taking out her phone.

He laughed. "Well those I actively try to avoid." She couldn't blame him there.

Selecting a picture, she passed him her phone, hoping he wouldn't break it or something. "This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet."

"What does Fury want me to do, swallow it?" Actually, compared to how things had ended up going, that would've been a good idea.

"He wants you to find it. It's been taken, and it emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be," Natasha said honestly.

"So Fury isn't after the monster?"

"Not that he's told me."

"And he tells you everything?" Nick Fury told _no one_ everything.

"Talk to Fury. He needs you on this."

"He needs me in a cage?"

"No one's going to put you in a …"

"STOP LYING TO ME!" he yelled. Natasha's gun was out before he'd even finished. He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. That was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do," he said, not looking sorry enough. Natasha trembled a little, still pointing her gun at him. "Why don't we do this the easy way where you don't use that and the other guy doesn't make a mess. Okay? Natasha?" She trembled.

"Stand down," she managed finally. "We're good here."

" "Just you and me," " he quoted in amusement.

**Author's Note: I tried to stick with the original lines as much as possible. Thoughts? Steve is up next!**


	6. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 (Steve):

Steve stared at the 1940s news report on the television. A pain rose up in him as he thought of all his friends and comrades, most of whom were now dead. He shut the TV off and the silence was gratifying, but he couldn't drown out the voices in his head. He turned to another torturous pursuit – reading the status reports Nick Fury had given him about some of his comrades. Bucky…Peggy… Peggy! He missed her more than he could say, but now… He stared at the paper. She was alive, unlike most of the others. There was even a phone number. The cellphone he'd been given, the one that had too many buttons, seemed to appear in his hand like magic, and he looked down at it. He could call her. He should call her…

Steve stood up abruptly and walked out, letting the front door slam behind him. What was he thinking? She probably didn't even remember him.

He walked down the busy streets, trying not to gawk at the strange technology he saw and not brood on his past too much. This was his life now. It was 2012 now.

A few minutes later, he sat in an outdoor seat at a restaurant he'd recently discovered and decided he liked, even though he only went there for a drink, something called Sprite. He sat there for a while, doodling on his homework and missing the 1940s.

"Waiting on the big guy?"

Steve jerked out of a daze and looked up at the pretty waitress who stood over his table. He thought she looked vaguely familiar, as though he'd seen her at school or something, but he wasn't sure. "Ma'am?" he asked in confused.

She smiled. "Iron man. A lot of people eat here just to watch him fly by. Refill?" He nodded, glancing up at the Stark Tower in the distance as she refilled his Sprite.

"Right," he muttered, thinking about how this information would make Tony Stark's head inflate even more. "Maybe another time." He wondered if he should leave and give someone else a chance to desperately stare at that ugly building waiting for an arrogant "superhero" to fly by.

"The table's yours as long as you like. Nobody's waiting on it. Plus we've got free wireless."

"Radio?" Steve wondered. The girl gave a confused smile and walked over to another table.

A man at the table beside him turned around to frown at him. "Ask for her number, you moron." Steve jumped. Wait, cellphone number? It was all too confusing.

…

Steve was in pain. But it was mental pain, and no matter him many times he hit the punching bag, it didn't take away that pain. _The war._ Punch. "_There's not enough time. I've got to put her in the water." _Harder. _"You won't be alone."_ Peggy! _"Oh my God. This man's still alive!"_ Slam. The punching bag hit the floor. He stood there for a moment, breathing hard, before bending down to pick up another.

"Trouble sleeping?" Steve didn't look up.

"I've slept for 70 years, sir. I think I've had my fill." He kept hitting the bag.

"Then you should be out celebrating, seeing the world."

Steve stopped and turned around to face Nick Fury. "When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost." _A lot of good men. Good men who did nothing wrong, were only defending their country._

"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some, very recently." Steve frowned, because that didn't sound good. And Fury never came over just to talk.

"Are you here with a mission, sir?" he asked wearily. At least a mission would be a distraction. High school wasn't quite distracting enough, even with his work for S.H.I.E.L.D. to contribute to his load, or a couple of new acquaintances he might one day call friends.

"I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?" _Trying to make up for the feeling that I've missed something very important?_

"Trying to save it."

Steve looked up in surprise, finally giving Nick Fury his full attention and taking the folder he was offered. The first picture brought back very bad memories.

_The Tesseract. _"HYDRA's secret weapon," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, that the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited, sustainable energy. And that's something the world sorely needs."

Steve pushed away the bad memories and focused on the problem at hand. "Who took it from you?" If Nick Fury was worried, then it must be bad.

"He's called Loki. He's…not from around here, but I think you know him." Steve frowned slightly as the image of a quiet, dark-haired teen came to mind. How common a name was it? "There's a lot more we'll need to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me," Steve said heavily.

"10 bucks says you're wrong." He paused as Steve gathered up his exercise things. "There's a debriefing packet back at your house. Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we should know?"

"You should've left it in the ocean," Steve said flatly, walking out.

…

"Hey, it's the mysterious guy from the restaurant." Steve looked down to see the waitress from earlier sitting on the subway seat next to where he stood. "So," she asked, "Can I at least get a name?"

"Steve," he said finally. "What about you?"

"Melodie Branch."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," he said politely. For some reason, this made her laugh.

"You know, you don't have to call me ma'am. I'm the same age as you." _No_, he thought bitterly, _I'm about 70 years older_. "Are you okay? It's fine, I mean, you can keep doing it if you want," she said, looking at him worriedly. He quickly composed himself.

"My apologies, it's just been a long day." She smiled.

"I guess it has. Anyway, this is my stop. It was good to meet you!" she smiled at him as she got off. He nodded to her politely, wondering how a person could be so smiley.

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**Author's Note: ****Please review! I'm not sure how good this chapter was. Oh, and next chapter is from Tony's perspective. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 5

**A/N: AHHHHHH I'm sorry! I know it's been...a long time (I don't even want to think about how long...), but I'm on spring break right now, and I've been working on my stories...and I wanted to post this. I will try to keep posting, for anyone who's still reading, although I can't make any promises on how frequent it will be.**

**Thanks, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review?**

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Chapter 5 (Tony):

"Really, footy pajamas?"

"Pepper," Tony replied patiently, "footy pajamas are the epitome of style and the perfect thing to wear while celebrating." When she continued to raise her eyebrow, he quickly changed the subject. "Did you bring the popcorn and cream soda?"

"Yes, I did, but what exactly are we celebrating again?" Pepper handed Tony an unpopped bag of popcorn and he stuck it in the microwave, punching in 1:56 as the time. It had to be exact.

"We're celebrating Stark Tower becoming fully operational." When she continued to look unimpressed, he added proudly, "It'll be mine when I turn 18, remember? I just started it up an hour ago."

"That's right, I had almost forgotten how you now have your name in the sky in the five minutes it's been since you last mentioned it."

"Hey," Tony protested, pointing a soda bottle at her. "Pepper, you're killing me. The moment, remember? Enjoy the moment."

"Mhmm." She kissed his cheek and removed the popcorn from the microwave. "So, Mr. Stark, how does it feel to have your name in the skyline of New York?"

"Amazing. Like Christmas, but with more me," he replied seriously, even though he was pretty sure she was just pulling his leg. She threw a piece of popcorn at him.

"Well, Merry Christmas, then."

"Thank you. So tell me, how does it feel to be a genius?"

She rolled her eyes. "You tell me."

"Hey," he said, frowning and putting his hands on her shoulders to look her in the eye. "All of this came from you, remember? Your idea. And now Stark Tower is a beacon of clean energy."

"All of this came from that," Pepper corrected him, tapping the arc reactor in his chest. Tony sighed.

"Give yourself some credit. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself…" –he searched for a number "–12% of the credit."

"12%?"

Whoops.

"An argument can be made for 15," he offered, reaching for another piece of popcorn and thinking furiously about what to say. Pepper snatched away the bowl.

"12%? My baby?" She kept her back to him as she slid a disc into the brand-new Blue-Ray player, which was connected to a huge, state-of-the-art flat screen TV. Tony winced.

"Well, I did do the heavy lifting –literally, I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you." This wasn't going as planned. They were supposed to be curled up the couch, ignoring the movie.

"_Oh_…"

"My private elevator…"

"Your private elevator?" Pepper interjected.

"…It was teeming with sweaty workmen." Pepper raised her eyebrows, and Tony winced. "I'm going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"

"It's not gonna be that subtle." Pepper raised her soda bottle as if toasting to her revenge. She settled herself cheerfully on the floor, ignoring Tony's invitation to join him on the couch.

"I'll tell you what. The next building is gonna say "Potts" on the tower," Tony said quickly. Pepper smirked and leaned against his leg.

"You're a big talker, but you don't even own the first building yet."

Tony waved a hand. "Semantics."

"Your father's not going to appreciate that."

"My father is the father of Tony Stark, he's lucky I even acknowledge him as family," Tony replied. At Pepper's expression, he shook his head. "Pepper, if I listened to everything my old dad said, I wouldn't be Tony Stark."

"And if I listened to everything you said…" Pepper began, but J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."

"Mr. Stark, we need to talk." It was Agent Coulson, Tony saw, glancing down at his phone and scowling. He answered.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message."

Pepper laughed into her hand.

"This is urgent."

"Then leave it urgently." The elevator door of Tony's living room opened to reveal Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony was getting to the point of wanting to shoot someone, but settled for saying loudly, "Security breach. It's on you."

"Mr. Stark." That tone of voice was awfully familiar – Tony got it all the time from his teachers at school.

"Phil, come in," Pepper exclaimed cheerfully, rising. Tony scowled. A shot of heavy rain appeared on screen, coming pretty close to his mood. The high-pitched sobs completed it.

""Phil?" His first name is Agent," he protested, trying to take back his Pepper's attention.

"Come on in, we're celebrating," Pepper said, ignoring Tony.

Tony grumbled under his breath, but forced a fake smile. "Which is why he can't stay."

"Phil" ignored both of them. "We need you to look this over as soon as possible," he said offering Tony a folder, which Tony quickly backed away from.

"I don't like being handed things."

Pepper smiled. "That's fine, because I love being handed things. So, let's trade." She passed Coulson the popcorn bowl, took the folder, took Tony's soda, and gave Tony the folder. This was not how Tony had wanted things to go, and now Phil had his popcorn.

"Official consulting hours are between 8 and 5 every other Thursday," he said sulkily. "And I expect popcorn."

"This isn't a consultation," Agent Coulson corrected him, looking serious. Serious was never good. Then Coulson set the popcorn bowl down carefully, like it might explode, and Tony decided that serious could be good after all.

"Is this about the Avengers? Which I know nothing about," Pepper added quickly, as Agent Coulson raised an eyebrow.

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought, and I didn't even qualify." Tony tried to steal his soda back from Pepper.

"I didn't know that either," Pepper said innocently, moving the bottle out of his reach.

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others," Tony continued, making quote marks with his fingers. He chucked some popcorn at Pepper to prove his point.

Pepper cocked her head. "That I did know." Tony rolled his eyes at this, but Pepper just smiled.

"That doesn't matter now. We have a situation."

Tony frowned. "_Ms. Potts_, could I talk to you?" She smiled apologetically at Coulson and followed Tony into the corner.

"I thought we were having a moment," he complained in an undertone.

"I was having 12% of a moment."

Tony scowled and opened his mouth to reply, but Pepper put a finger to his lips. "This seems serious. Listen to Phil."

Tony sighed. "How would you know if it's… Why is he "Phil"?" This was the main point that irked him.

"Tony. If this has to do with the Avengers, then it's more serious than either of us knows. Listen to Phil."

12% and falling.

Pepper watched the computer screen silently as faces and information flashed across it. "You have homework. You have a _lot_ of homework." Literally, since Agent Coulson was one of his teachers. Tony hated homework.

"Well, what if I…didn't?" he hedged.

"If you didn't?" Pepper looked a little too amused, like he was a freshman being cute again.

"Yeah."

"You mean when you've finished? Well, then…" She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Tony Stark, I love you, but you have to get this done or you won't even get your 12%, understood? After this is over, there'll be plenty of time to celebrate."

"Square deal. Fly safe."

She smiled and kissed him briefly, too briefly. "Work hard," she said softly, before turning to lead Phil out.

"Actually, I need a brief word with Tony. Could you wait outside?"

She walked out, and Coulson turned to Tony, looking serious enough that even Tony could recognize it.

"Mr. Stark, I know you have a history of goofing off, I know you don't get along well with others, but it is imperative that you read these papers and report to work afterwards. The fate on the Earth depends on it and the world will hold you to the promises you've made."

"Yes, Agent."

"This is a volatile group, but I believe it will work. It has to work, do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Thank-you, Tony."

The door opened, and Pepper was still waiting. "So, any chance you're driving by LaGuardia?" he heard her say to Coulson as she walked out.

"I can drop you."

"Fantastic. I want to hear about the cellist, is that still a thing?"

"She moved back to Portland."

"What? Boo!"

Tony picked up a holographic version of the Tesseract and frowned at it as the shattered pieces of the moment fell even further away, forgotten.


	8. Chapter 6

**A/N: So I had actually pretty much given up on this story and chapter, but I got a bunch of notifications about new followers, despite having not posted in awhile and I decided that maybe I should keep trying. This chapters not that great 'cause it's pretty short and was mostly me getting stuck every time I tried to write something, but the next chapter will be long and action-packed, assuming anyone is still interested.  
**

**-DP**

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Chapter 6 (Steve):

Steve glanced up from the device he had been studying. He thought it was an iPad, but wasn't entirely sure, awful as he was with technology. "So, this Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?"

Mr. Coulson had pulled him out of class, saying simply, "Avengers Initiative," and now they walked quickly through halls Steve had only seen that time he got lost the first day…

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought that gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way, did it?" It was a rhetorical question, because Steve figured no one really wanted to turn into the Hulk when they were angry. He wondered vaguely if anyone had thought to teach Banner to control the transformation – surely there had to be some way to control them – discipline? Meditation? He couldn't help but visualize a huge green creature sitting crisscross on a yoga mat.

"Not so much. When he's not that thing, though, the guy's like a Steven Hawking." Steve looked up, confused. "He's like a…smart person. I gotta say…it's an honor to meet you officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a huge honor to have you at this school…"

Steve resisted the urge to groan. He really didn't like where this conversation was going, because hero-worship was not what he signed up for. The man sounded like a little kid, he was so excited, and Steve stood up, trying to get some space, but Coulson stood up too. Any more of this and Coulson would be asking for his autograph…

"Such an honor…"

"So," Steve said, anxious to change the subject, "why don't you tell me about this S.H.I.E.L.D. center in the school? "

There was a moment of silence in which Steve figured Coulson hadn't actually heard what he said, but no, the man was thinking. "Well, I hope you'll like it…" And then he went into a full description during which Steve – currently feeling much younger than his 14 years – could just nod and pretend to follow along.

"So, here we are," Coulson said, gesturing to the classroom. "Go on in."

"Thank-you, sir," Steve said politely.

"Steve?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't be nervous. You're among friends."

…

"Welcome, Steve," Natasha said, smiling. She didn't even look any different, well, except for the gun holstered at her waist, but considering the number of stairs Steve had just climbed down to get to this basement he hadn't known existed… "You know Bruce, right? Bruce Banner?"

Steve shook hands with the dark-haired, slightly nerdy-looking boy in front of him. "Actually, no. Do I call you Bruce, or Dr. Banner…?"

"Just Bruce," the boy said, smiling ruefully. "I suppose this must be a little strange," he said, gesturing around the classroom, half of which was lined with computers, while another section held a conference table, and still another section held assorted weapons.

"A bit," he admitted.

Natasha gestured them forward. "Come on, boys, time to see Mr. Fury." As they walked, Natasha turned to Steve. "So, has Coulson asked you to sign his trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?"

She gave him an amused look. "They're vintage; he's very proud."

Nick Fury hadn't gotten any less scary since Steve had last seen him – in fact, he seemed even scarier now. He stood beside several screens near the conference table and was giving orders to several students at computers. There was a dark-haired woman in uniform nearby, and she gave Steve a brief, penetrating look.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly-available camera on the planet," Fury said, catching Bruce's eye and gesturing him over. "Cell phones, laptops…if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"You have to narrow your field," Bruce said, frowning slightly. "How many spectrometers do you have?"

_Um, what?_ Steve looked at Fury, then at Bruce, then at Natasha, but apparently everyone else knew exactly what he was talking about.

"How many are there?" Fury asked smugly.

Bruce nodded thoughtfully. "Call every lab you know and tell them to put a spectrometer on the roof and calibrate it for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition…at least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Romanoff, escort Mr. Banner to his laboratory, please."

She nodded and gesture Bruce through a door. "You'll love it – we've got all the toys."

Fury turned to study Steve. "Would you be interested in seeing your new suit?"

"Of course, sir," Steve said awkwardly, feeling out of place.

"Sitwell!" Fury called, and an older black boy in uniform looked up from one of the computers.

"Yes, sir?"

"Show the Captain to his room."

…

_Natasha Romanoff _

At some point everyday, she, Steve, Bruce, and the other Junior Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were pulled out of class to perform tasks in the command center. But sometimes, Natasha wondered if there was any point in doing it. Loki walked around the school with a superior look on his face and Clint was always at his side, ignoring Natasha, leaving her feeling more alone than she had in years.

Steve and Bruce just weren't the same as Clint – she missed her best friend. Especially as the Homecoming Dance drew nearer and nearer, because she remembered his insistence on dragging her to it. It was a stupid thing to be upset about, sure, but Natasha couldn't help but feel like she was missing out on something important.

As she walked over to the command area, she caught the tail end of Steve and Coulson's conversation. The poor boy was looking quite uncomfortable, while Coulson looked nervous but excited.

"If it's no trouble," he was saying.

Steve nodded. "Of course not."

"It's a vintage set. Took me a couple years to collect them all…near mint condition, too."

Natasha interrupted them. "Time to suit up, boys – Loki's been spotted across town and it doesn't look good."


End file.
